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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.09690 |
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| _version_ | 1866914255679258624 |
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| author | Abdelmaqsoud, Kareem Kitchin, John R. Widom, Michael |
| author_facet | Abdelmaqsoud, Kareem Kitchin, John R. Widom, Michael |
| contents | The brittleness or ductility of metals has long been attributed to their elastic constants, with high Poisson ratio, or equivalently high Pugh ratio, favoring greater ductility. Growing evidence links ductility with their electronic structure. Consequently, it is desirable to understand how the electronic structure affects the elastic constants. Here, we examine the Ta-W binary alloy system, which evolves from ductile character at Ta-rich compositions to brittleness at high W. We show that a change in slope of the composition-dependent shear modulus near the equiatomic composition coincides with an abrupt change in the Fermi level density of states. We relate the behaviors of the elastic constants to the characters of occupied electronic orbitals close to the Fermi level. Finally, we consider additional alloy systems from groups V and VI and show that qualitatively similar behavior occurs more broadly. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_09690 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electronic structure and elasticity of the Ta-W solid solution Abdelmaqsoud, Kareem Kitchin, John R. Widom, Michael Materials Science The brittleness or ductility of metals has long been attributed to their elastic constants, with high Poisson ratio, or equivalently high Pugh ratio, favoring greater ductility. Growing evidence links ductility with their electronic structure. Consequently, it is desirable to understand how the electronic structure affects the elastic constants. Here, we examine the Ta-W binary alloy system, which evolves from ductile character at Ta-rich compositions to brittleness at high W. We show that a change in slope of the composition-dependent shear modulus near the equiatomic composition coincides with an abrupt change in the Fermi level density of states. We relate the behaviors of the elastic constants to the characters of occupied electronic orbitals close to the Fermi level. Finally, we consider additional alloy systems from groups V and VI and show that qualitatively similar behavior occurs more broadly. |
| title | Electronic structure and elasticity of the Ta-W solid solution |
| topic | Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.09690 |